2008 Fall TV Preview: DogTown - Saving the Michael Vick Dogs

Premieres: Friday, September 5, 2008 at 9:00 p.m.Network: National GeographicCreator(s): Darcy Dennett (series producer)Starring: Dogtown Shelter (of the Best Friends Animal Sanctuary), Cherry, Meryl, Denzel, and Georgia
Website: Channel.NationalGeographic.com
In this special two-hour season premiere of DogTown the shelter will take on the seemingly impossible challenge of rehabilitating Michael Vick’s abused pit bulls. Back in 2007, Vick’s property was raided and a number of traumatized pit bulls were found. The dogs were residing at the Bad Newz Kennels, an illegal dogfighting project in which dogs that didn’t perform well were often executed. The surviving dogs showed signs of previous injuries and psychological trauma. People thought these pit bulls were too far gone to be rehabilitated and that it might be more humane to euthanize them. Instead, 47 dogs were given a chance to start over and 22 of them (the toughest cases) were sent to DogTown.

The season premiere special follows four of those dogs, Cherry, Meryl, Denzel and Georgia. Cherry is believed to have been used as bait in training the more aggressive dogs, so she’s terrified of people and other dogs. Meryl has aggression issues (to say the least) and will be staying at DogTown for life, as it’s not believed that she’ll ever be a candidate for adoption. Denzel is really sick and the medical team will need to figure out what’s wrong with him. Finally, there’s Georgia, a dog whose life as a prize-winning fighter has left her scarred. She also shows signs of having a number of litters. Georgia’s teeth were surgically removed, which they believe could be evidence that she was being forced to breed with other dogs.

It’ll take a miracle to bring these dogs around but if anyone is up to the task, it’s the people at DogTown.

The story of these dogs is truly heartbreaking but everyone loves a good comeback, right? I’ve never seen an episode of DogTown in the past but the compelling story of these dogs has me curious to see how this operation (and the series) works. I’m eager to learn more of the dogs’ stories and also find out what it took to get the dogs back on track. I figure if this special is as good as it sounds, DogTown might be a series worth tuning in to regularly in the future.